


Roots

by GutsButt, Naela



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: ACS week, AbsoluteControlShipping - Freeform, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 12:04:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19250845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GutsButt/pseuds/GutsButt, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naela/pseuds/Naela
Summary: Why does the cold weather have to be the least of Giovanni's problems? All that is around is cedar, pine, and fir... His husband... a house... a boat... and someone he should have met a long time ago.





	Roots

**Author's Note:**

> It's ACS week and once again we collaborated!! It's technically Monday but nobody is awake at the time of posting so it still counts!! Hope everyone enjoys the fruits of our labor, and get ready for feeling things :D

He’s been to Sinnoh before. Of course he has. When it’s only a few regions away and a flight that lasts barely more than an hour, Giovanni thinks he knows the region quite well. As far as neighbouring regions go, he vastly prefers it to the humid swamp that’s Hoenn. Though in general he’d rather not be in either place. He doesn’t really have a choice now since he finally has a good reason to go back. That reason being the man at his side, who calmly walks out of the airport with an outfit that’d barely be considered appropriate for fall weather and stands in the snow and the cold without blinking an eye.

****

“Aren’t you freezing?” Giovanni immediately takes off his jacket and bundles his husband up. There is a snort from underneath layers of fabric.

****

“You certainly are not coming up here during the dead of winter if you think this is bad.” Hands poke out from around the collar of the coat to move it aside. “I’m fine, you will need this more than I do.”

****

“It completes the disguise if you ask me, now you are part of the tourism population.” He ruffles Cyrus’s hair and sighs. “I don’t know if I can get used to this color. It’s going to be hell to get that dye out of the tile.”

****

Black hair makes his husband even paler and it strips away any healthy glow Cyrus has gained over the years. He wouldn’t think that the dark circles under Cyrus’s eyes could get any worse but the proof is right there in front of him.

****

“You’re looking concerned.”

****

“Did you sleep at all?”

****

“No. I hope it helps sell the sick idea. I kept going in circles last night and kept remembering to pack last minute things.” Cyrus adjusts the surgeons mask over his nose. It’s a shame that he doesn’t get the opportunity to see his husband’s face as he gets to see his home once again after so long. Of course Cyrus would overthink this trip. It’s one of the many pitfalls his husband struggles with.

****

“Well if the love of your life has a hard time recognizing you when he’s seen you every day for years then I have to doubt anyone else is going to connect the dots right away.” Cyrus turns his head away quickly at his words and he can almost picture the blush underneath that mask. He chuckles at his husband’s misfortune before he pulls Cyrus to his chest and kisses him on the forehead.

********  
  


They walk hand in hand through the remains of snow covering the ground. How anyone would want to live in a region with a chance of snow during this time a year is beyond him. The cold air slowly seeps into his body and for the first time, Cyrus’s hand feels warm in his own. Sinnoh’s cold wind feels like knives across his face and all too soon he’s shivering. 

****

He ignores Cyrus’s stare for as long as possible. And then his husband stops and tries to let go of his hand.

****

“No.” Cyrus still shrugs the coat off of one shoulder. “Cyrus, no.” He presses himself against Cyrus’s back and loops his arms around his husband to keep the coat on.

****

“You’re cold and this is your coat.”

****

“I’m not letting you get sick during your trip.”

****

“I have a mask on, no bacteria are coming in. I grew up in this weather, you can’t say the same.” Cyrus is still struggling within his arms to get the coat off so Giovanni hugs tighter in retaliation. “Gio-” Suddenly Cyrus hisses as his neck is assaulted with a cold face. Cyrus tries to squirm away from the cold pressed against his skin. “Shi- I’ll wear the coat, get off.”

****

“Too late for that…” He hums against his husband’s warmth. “This is payback for every cold foot I’ve ever had to wake up to.” Cyrus groans brokenly. “Love you.” He smiles and hugs Cyrus closer.

****

“How about you get my coat out of the bag instead of trying to transfer your hypothermia to me.”

****

“Think I like this better.” He mumbles into Cyrus’s skin before turning towards the bag he dropped upon trying to keep his husband layered. However he stops short upon the sight of a bird pokemon rooting through their bag. “Cyrus, how vicious are these things?” He gets a glimpse of the birds face and it’s dumb curl before it plants its face back in the bag. 

****

“HEY!” Cyrus kicks up a spray of snow at the creature and runs at it. The pokemon looks up and grabs something from the bag before flying off, managing to scatter several other items from the bag across the ground. 

****

“It’s fine,” Giovanni says as he rifles through the bag, barely able to conceal his smile at his husband still waving angry fists at the disappearing speck in the sky. “It just took our lunch. Everything else is still here. And look at what I found.” He pulls out the warm winter coat, sized perfectly for his husband and tosses it over to Cyrus. The coat lands squarely over his head.

“More importantly, this is still intact.” He lifts a package from the bag, the small carefully wrapped gift they’d laboured all night before the flight and took pains in bringing when them as a carry-on so it wouldn’t be damaged by reckless baggage handlers. “At least I hope so. It’s still not too late to get him something else.” 

****

“If it’s still whole then its fine. We don’t  have another week to think about getting something else.” Cyrus says as he dusts snow off of their trashed belongings. Whether it is Cyrus’s stubbornness or sleeplessness talking now, Giovanni wouldn’t know.

****

Cyrus fluffs the coat over Giovanni’s shoulders and pats it down. The prewarmed coat is a blessing in such cold weather. It almost makes up for the icy fingers he grabs onto as they continue on their way.

****

“Should we bring him lunch?” He’s just putting off the inevitable but it’s the only thing he can think of as he checks on the time every five seconds.

****

“We could… I hope that what I know is still here.” The lines between Cyrus’s eyebrows deepen as he stares into the snow. “Think there is a place up the street.”

****

The bag of carryout steams a pleasant aroma into the air. It's a trek to eventually find a small house surrounded by conifers. 

****

“If you want to go on ahead then feel free, this hill is making me feel old.”

****

“Don’t tell me that I’m just going to be helping old men for the next week.”

****

He elbows Cyrus for his cheek. “Cyrus, dear, would you hand me the remote while I don’t move an inch from this armchair? Or we could see who groans the loudest when getting up.” He gets a snort for all his joking. Cyrus stays with him the rest of the way up to the house. His feet meet a concrete walkway and suddenly his stomach is knotting up. What is he supposed to say to the man who was the best part of his husband’s childhood? Is he really going to meet someone when he is so out of breath and sweating under his coat?

****

“I’ve been on that boat so many times, he wouldn’t give that thing up if the bottom totally rusted out of it.” Cyrus sighs. “I might be playing mechanic at some point while we are here. I’m probably the last person who looked at it.” He has no idea what Cyrus is talking about -- chalking it up to another of his intrusive thoughts when Giovanni finally separates the boat from the conifers surrounding it, such a thing shouldn’t be the same shade of green. Ah.

****

He swallows against the dryness in his mouth as they reach the stairs, staring at the small frosted window in the front door. Its just his luck that Cyrus would look back at him before climbing up that first step.

****

“What’s wrong?”

****

He can’t even make an attempt to smile with how his insides feel like jelly. “What if… he doesn’t like me?” Then he’s barking out a laugh, dragging a hand down his face. “Look at me, acting like I’m an awkward teen meeting my girlfriend’s parents for the first time. Though if your grandfather greets us with a rifle in his hand and starts making threats about treating you right, I might very well flee.”

****

“I know Sinnoh is mostly countryside but I don’t think-” Cyrus’s chuckles overtake the rest of his sentence. 

****

They don’t have much of a chance to discuss his misgivings further when the door suddenly swings wide open and out steps an elderly gentleman, well into his seventies if not more. Even through all of the white hair and the deep lines and wrinkles of his face, Giovanni immediately sees the resemblance. Shed a few decades, add some blue to his spikey hair and they might pass for twins. 

****

Cyrus has decided that his chest is the perfect place to put his face into while he laughs about shovel talks. He’s frozen under the old man’s stare as Cyrus enjoys his mirth. The elderly gentleman just leans back against the doorway. 

****

Giovanni reaches over and pulls the elastic loop from behind Cyrus’s ear. “Think there's someone here to see you.” He leans down to place a quick kiss on Cyrus’s forehead as he stuffs the surgical mask in his pocket. He nearly gets hair in his mouth as Cyrus jerks toward the door. There’s a smile. So sudden and bright that he’s unsure if the man holding on to his upper arm is still his husband.

****

“Hey…” Cyrus fumbles for a second with the bags before Giovanni takes them from him. The crinkling of all that plastic is as keen and loud as a lone wind howling through a silent desert with how no one’s yet to really speak.

****

Then:

****

“What on earth have you done to your hair?”

****

Two pairs of eyes blink, but the old man at the top of the stairs peers down at them, a corner of his mouth twitching. “Are you two going to stand there and gape all day or are we going to eat? I’m old and it’s too cold out here to be standing around doing nothing.”

****

The clunk of wooden steps is deafening and then Cyrus has his arms wrapped tight around the old man. 

****

“One of these days you’re going to knock me over hugging me like this. You didn’t answer me, what did you do to your hair? Are you in one of those screaming bands or something?”

****

He may look like Cyrus, but he very well doesn’t act like him. Which begs the question which side of the family did his husband inherit that sombre disposition of his. Though Giovanni doesn’t have the time to ponder such deep thoughts when there’s a hand gripping his arm and yanking him forward. He stumbles until he’s caught by a pair of surprisingly strong arms belonging to a man who’s evidently far tougher than he looks. 

  
“So this is who you bring home, huh? Finally. I’d say welcome to the family, but that remains to be seen. Though I guess anyone mad enough to get hitched with Cyrus must be madly in love with him.”

****

“At least thank him for remembering to get lunch before you start harassing my husband.” Cyrus takes the bags out of his arms and brings them inside. “I thought it was too cold for you.” There’s sounds of movement from inside. “If you bought all these then I’m leaving.”

****

“Don’t worry, they’re from the library.” The older man chuckles. Giovanni gets two pats on his arm that shakes his whole body before he is left at the doorway. “You’re letting out more hot air the longer you stand there.” Giovanni jerks and stumbles through the door, closing it behind him.

****

The room is rather cozy. It might just be the fire and the older type of light bulbs lighting the space but the living room just feels warm. Cyrus is already sitting on the couch reading the backs of books one by one from a stack. He sees Cyrus’s coat hanging up and he shrugs off his own to join it.

****

“Honestly, why?” Giovanni turns back to see the older man ruffling Cyrus’s hair.

****

“I didn’t want to be recognized.”

****

“I’m supposed to be able to recognize you!”

****

“The librarians must know that I’m in town with all these books. I’m sure that they know you are the one who wants to learn about airplane engines.”

****

“There wasn’t a single face in there that I recognized. Don’t look at me like that, I haven’t lost my memory. Even if I did the amount of times I went in there for you wouldn’t let me forget.”

****

“You didn’t have to get all of this.”

****

“Well, who else is going to spoil you?” Cyrus’s grandfather laughs as he shakes his grandson’s shoulder. Cyrus looks at the floor in the same way that he always has when there is too much for him to know how to deal with it. 

****

It’s strange watching these two. The ages were wrong and there was no resemblance at all to what Giovanni remembers and yet he’s taken back to a distant past, with those few moments between himself and Silver. Before everything had soured. Before he’d ruined everything. But his son is miles away, participating in another league, still following his dreams and looking towards a brighter future. While they’re here in a region about as opposite to Alola as possible, trying to reconnect to a lost past. 

****

Blue eyes flick up to him and he tries to school his expression into something pleasant. It's too late though as he sees those lines between Cyrus’s brows deepen and Cyrus extends a hand in his direction.

****

“Someone else has taken to spoiling me, I’m afraid.” He’s stepping forward to take Cyrus’s outstretched hand. “Also, what project is taking up the dining room? Should we clear the table for you?” Cyrus’s thumb swipes back and forth across the back of his hand. Ah, he’s wanted alone.

****

“Ah no, I was finally able to gather up all kinds of pictures and everything is being sorted. I’d like to put together some albums. Maybe you could take one home with you if nothing gets moved around and we make some time to put it together. We can just eat in here and keep the history undisturbed.”

****

“Alright. I’ll get utensils, if you haven’t moved them of course.” Cyrus says before kissing the back of Giovanni’s hand and rising.

****

And now he’s alone to face the lion in his den. Said lion is currently lowering himself in an old and worn armchair, a far too amused gleam twinkling in his eye as the elder Akagi studies him from across the den. “We could play twenty questions, but we’d be here all night and I’m starving. Really, the only question I have is this: how important is my Cyrus’ happiness to you?”

****

Right to the point. An unmistakably Cyrus trait to do away with all of the extraneous details to get to the heart of the matter. No pleasantries, twenty questions as he said. Giovanni could appreciate such candor if it wasn’t currently being directed at him. Of course it’d be the hard hitting question right off the bat too. If Giovanni hadn’t spent a lifetime sitting across far more intimidating men, some quite literally willing to kill him, then he might have a harder time under the elder Akagi’s scrutiny, but squirming is for weak men and it seems no matter how long it’s been since he’s been in the game, it’s still hard to give up old habits. 

****

“I think it’s quite disingenuous of you to ask me something like that when I did, after all, marry your grandson. He means everything to me. I would hurt anyone who would hurt him. I would kill for him if necessary.”

****

The old man’s eyebrows shoot up nearly into his hairline and he stares silently for a moment before shaking his head. “I didn’t realize you two were so attached.”

****

“I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of establishing a legal partnership if we weren’t close.” Cyrus says as he slips past him to hand the elder Akagi a pair of chopsticks. “I doubt anyone would try to force a marriage on me. It’s not like I’m in high demand.”

****

“Ah yes, I had to snap you up quick before you came back home. I wonder if all your suitors who still live here would want to know their precious Cyrus Akagi has been swept off his feet.” He grins down at Cyrus. “I could put an announcement in the newspaper.” Cyrus shoves him lightly with a shoulder.

****

“I would have liked to hear that announcement.” Is a grumble from the elder occupying the armchair. “Instead I get a letter years after the fact asking for a visit.”

****

Cyrus stares at the floor, unfortunately these kind of things are not Cyrus’s forte. Cyrus has trouble with that fine line between privacy and who is let into the little things in his life. With such forced separation finally over, Cyrus will have to pick apart what he shows and what to keep close. Unfortunately, his husband is new to these things. Even with Giovanni’s help, it's going to be difficult to sort out what to share in the years to come. 

****

Neither of them truly know how to operate within these familial bonds.

****

He tugs Cyrus by the shoulder so that he can whisper in his ear.

****

“Should we go ahead with the gift?”

****

“You two better be talking about how to serve all of us.”

****

“Maybe after…” Cyrus whispers back before handing his grandfather a container.

****

Miraculously, after all that chilly travel, the food managed to stay warm.

****

It seems that both of the related people in the room do not have the skill of conversating while eating. He has to wonder how deep these influences run. Which of the Akagi line started the trend of these silent men. Cyrus raises an eyebrow at him. He’s usually filling the silence by now but where does one start when meeting family?

****

“Giovanni used to work in the gym circuit in Kanto.” Blue eyes flick over to him. It seems his husband is getting better at introductions than he is. “He’s got a pretty strong team. I still haven’t been able to beat him in a battle.”

****

“What? You nearly had a full team last time I checked. With that monster Gyarados you have then you should have almost anything in the bag.” The elder Akagi pauses before shaking his head and chuckling. “You really should have tried against Cynthia when you had the chance.”

****

“I don’t need to go through victory road to find her and the rest of them when I can just challenge my husband. Besides, its a financial hassle to burn through that many healing items at once.” Cyrus closes up his container, much to Giovanni’s displeasure. His husband’s eating patterns are still too similar to that Honchkrow he adores. “I don’t get to fight my spouse often enough. Besides, someone likes battles enough that he wants a challenge on his birthday every year.”

****

“Hey you almost got me last time, I was down to one.”

****

“If I go to my secret training spot then you might get beat this year.”

****

“Oh? My husband has a secret does he? I might just have to keep an eye on you.”

****

“I think you sleep too soundly for that kind of surveillance.”

****

“You’d be surprised what I can do with the right motivation.” He’s leaning in closer, grinning ear to ear when suddenly he’s reminded that he’s in another man’s house-

****

“So am I taking both of you fishing tomorrow?”

****

Fishing? One moment he’s focused in on Cyrus’s lips and the next his mind is filled with pathetically flopping magikarp. Of course people develop odd hobbies when they have all the time in the world in their hands and no longer have societal obligations that bind younger men to the plow of work. Living among fir trees and owning a boat must mean that the elder Akagi spends some time on the water for pleasure. Joy.

****

“Or maybe I’m just taking my grandson?”

****

“Oh no, he just said that he would follow me to the ends of the earth.” Cyrus’s eyes crinkle up at the corners. What is he going to hear next? “Dear, would you like to wake up before dawn to go out on the water with me?” Such honeyed words might as well be molten plastic.

****

He groans. Cyrus and his grandfather chuckle.

****

“How long will you be out?”

****

“No idea. I would like you to come though, just so you can try it.”

****

An empty house in a region he doesn’t know for one day or suffer for a bit in the morning while spending the day with his husband…

****

“I might need a nap if you can manage to get me out the door.”

****

“I’ll look after you.”

****

“Leave me behind if I’m not cooperating.”

****

“Deal.” This time it’s the elder Akagi. His fate is now sealed. When was the last time he saw a sunrise? Sleeping in is his forte, Cyrus is the one who gets up early. What joy can be found in catching Magikarp when the sun is barely out?

****

He’s staring into his empty takeout container for far too long before he sighs and stands up.

****

“One more bite and I’ll put this in the fridge for you.” He says, placing Cyrus’s takeout back in his lap. Cyrus makes a face down at the styrofoam before opening it back up and taking a bite. There is a chuckle from Cyrus’s grandfather before he holds out his container. Guess he’s on cleanup duty.

****

“Is the kitchen through there?” 

****

“Yes. Cyrus, why didn’t you give him a tour?” There is a pause, Cyrus must be chewing.

“Someone was whining about getting fed.”

****

“I wasn’t whining.”

****

He’s in a kitchen that is once again all some kind of cedar or pine. The whole house must be made of the same stuff as the furniture matches too well. He deposits the two empty containers into the trash and opens an older style fridge that is yellowed with age. It doesn’t even have an ice maker. He’s nearly impressed with how clean this house is when he catches a glance at the kitchen table. The space is covered with several boxes and in the middle is a small mountain of pictures. He catches a glance of his husband’s signature blue peeking through the pile several times. 

****

He can’t resist.

****

A picture of young Cyrus with a murkrow on his head. A graduation picture with his grandfather. Cyrus holding up a magikarp that barely fits in his arms. A zubat clinging onto Cyrus’s shoulder. Cyrus looking apprehensively at the steering wheel of a car. Oh. A blue haired toddler in a bathtub, surrounded by bubbles.

****

He picks up a photo that is face down in a neat stack. The one underneath it also turned over. He gives the arrangement a puzzled look before he flips the photo over. The only person smiling in the photo is a woman. The man she stands by barely looks alive, his severe face holds nothing in it as he stares down the camera. He’s outfitted in military regalia, all badges and a hat nearly covering his eyes. In one hand is a cane and the other grips tightly to the shoulder of a boy. He may not see the full face of the kid looking at his shoulder, but he recognizes the blue hair.

****

He nearly rips the photo in half on the spot. He should burn the whole stack if this is what is in there. How much pain could he erase just by ridding the world of these pictures? Cyrus is better off without their existence-

****

There is loud uproar of laughter from the living room. His hands are in prime position for ripping the picture but… he places it back in the stack. There is a man’s child in those photos too, as well as his grandchild. Unfortunately he’s not qualified for these decisions.

****

He walks in on the elder Akagi red faced and wheezing with laughter while Cyrus grins at him.

****

“What did you do to him?”

****

“I was just talking about our Alola trip.”

“Oh?”

****

“And your reaction to their persians.”

****

Those bobble headed monstrosities instantly enter his mind and the severe curl of his upper lip is a strain on his facial muscles. Cyrus’s grandfather takes one look at him before howling with laughter again.

****

“Don’t speak of those disappointments. It's the first time I’ve ever preferred an unevolved Pokemon.” How on earth did those things even survive?

****

But Cyrus isn’t looking at him. Instead Cyrus is staring fondly at his grandfather, who is still laughing and doing nothing to calm himself down.

****

“Really Cyrus, you shouldn’t try to break your grandfather when we just got here. What will I do with the present you got if you do such a thing?” 

****

“You were the one who put it together.”

****

“No, you get the credit here, it’s going to your family.”

****

“I don’t even think it was my idea.”

****

“No-”

****

“I don’t think of heartfelt things that easily-”

****

“Quit bickering over something I don’t know about.” Cyrus’s grandfather interrupts, clutching at his lower ribs. He chuckles a few more times before he leans back with a groan.

****

“You really should be more gentle with him, maybe work up from knock knock jokes.” He teases.

****

“Just give it to him already.”

****

“I’m not sure that I’m ready for whatever you two sneaks came up with.” Is the grumble from the man in the armchair. Giovanni extracts the carefully wrapped package from the bag and hands it over. “Which one of you did a bow on here.”

****

“That would be Gio.”

****

“I’ve dealt with many gift giving occasions over the years…” He grumbles at the surprised expression aimed at him. “Just open it.”

****

“It looks professional, maybe you should start a business.” Professional or not, the elder Akagi shifts in his seat to pull out a pocket knife from his back pocket and he cuts through the ribbon criss crossed over the package. “This is nice wrapping paper.”

****

“Gio, again.” Cyrus says over the crinkling of paper.

****

“Stop…”

****

“Oh.” The old man pulls out a photo frame from the remnants of paper and bubble wrap. “Oh, Cyrus… This is beautiful.”

****

“I know it doesn’t make up for not being there but we thought you would want a piece of the journey to where I am now.” Cyrus gets up and walks behind the armchair. “You know, I didn’t really want a photographer at the wedding but I’m glad that we were able to at least give you a piece of it.” Cyrus puts a hand on the older man’s shoulder.

****

“Here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.” Cyrus’s grandfather looks up at his grandson. “Did you lose your marbles? A wedding, Cyrus…”

****

“No, he’s just camera shy.” He’s sure if he was in the same position with his son then he would be talking in the same disappointed tone.

****

“Didn’t lose your awkward picture poses? Gracious, what does school do to you youngsters these days?” Cyrus’s grandfather holds the picture closer to his face. “You look so happy here…”

****

“Think that was from before the vows, someone’s face isn’t red from crying yet.”

****

“Hey, you slaved over those words for weeks. I have no shame.” Some days he remembers Cyrus’s vows and he still gets choked up. It’s not often he gets to hear such words, and when Cyrus does something of magnitude he puts the utmost care into every second of his work.

****

“Thank you.” The elder Akagi says, looking up at his grandson.

****

But Cyrus is looking at him, with that same soft expression that he remembers from the aisle. The same one from exchanged rings and “I do’s”. From every anniversary and private celebration in between.

****

“Thank you, Gio.”

****

“No-” He starts. But then Cyrus’s grandfather hands over the picture to his grandson and pushes himself out of the arm chair. It’s painfully slow and Cyrus does his best to help but eventually the old man is up. And walking over.

****

“I’ve always known my grandson to give credit where it is due.” The old man places a hand on his shoulder.

****

“He just likes me too much-”

****

“No. Thank you.” The look he is given drives into his soul much deeper than the words do. Then the hand on his shoulder becomes an arm tugging him down into a hug.

****

Even pushing his fifties, Giovanni is still strong enough to crush a man if he’s not careful. Frail old men who have trouble climbing out of their arm chair are certainly in the at risk of snapping in half with a bit too much pressure. But he’s startled from being pulled in, at having arms other than his husband’s squeezing him tight that he’s limp, blinking in surprise at Cyrus over his grandfather’s shoulder. Except Cyrus is still smiling, nearly beaming and Giovanni finds himself smiling in return. This is two parts of Cyrus’ life come together, fitting into a whole that is as picture perfect as the framed image that the Elder Akagi’s set aside.

****

The hug might go on for too long for Giovanni’s comfort, but he lets it slide given the occasion. The smile is still there on his face as he finally wraps his own arms around Cyrus’ grandfather. Said smiling positively glowing in brightness when the Elder Akagi leans forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek and following that with a gentle pat.

****

“Welcome to the family.”


End file.
